


Haphephobia

by pinkamour1588



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 17:19:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17047355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkamour1588/pseuds/pinkamour1588
Summary: Request from anonymous on Tumblr: “I wish you would write a fic where reader has haphephobia and needs an injury or illness fixed and Bones has to work to gain their trust so he can help them.”





	Haphephobia

You sat on the floor and stared at the blood-soaked cloth you were holding to your leg. _It was fine. You could just bandage it yourself. It just needed to stop bleeding so much._ Lifting the cloth to check only to see it still oozing blood. _I should go to Med Bay. I know I should. But…but…_ Your stomach turned and you felt nauseous. Not because of the blood. No, it was because of the very idea that in order to be treated, you would have to let one of the doctors and at least one of the nurses touch you.

“You alright, Lass?” your supervisor asked as he walked over.

“Just fine, Mr. Scott,” you answered, heart pounding a mile a minute.

“What happened?” He gestured toward the fabric pressed to your leg.

“Just a little scrape.” You smiled hoping it didn’t look too forced.

“You should get that up to Med Bay.”

“Oh, I don’t want to waste their time with a little scrape.”

Scotty furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, let’s at least get you somewhere other than the engine room floor.” He gestured for you to stand and you were sure you were going to vomit.

“I…It’s just…” you stammered.

“How bad is it, Lieutenant?” There was a faint hint of exasperation in his tone.

“Nothing I can’t handle, sir.”

“Let me see.”

“Really, Mr. Scott, it’s fine…”

“I will assume the worst and call for someone to come get you if you don’t.”

Your hands shook as you lifted the cloth, blood seeping from the cut.

“I would say don’t go anywhere, but I highly doubt you can.” He turned and started to walk off.

“Mr. Scott, please. Please don’t call Med Bay to come get me,” you begged a little breathlessly.

“I’m not,” he said before turning the corner. He returned a few minutes later with a first aid kit. “Bandage it up and go to Med Bay. I did call them to tell them you would be on your way but not to send anyone.”

“I can’t,” you whispered as you removed the bloody cloth and pressed some sterile gauze to the cut.

“That’s an order.”

“Yes, sir,” you mumbled as you taped down the end of the bandaging and gathered up your tools. With some struggle, you pulled yourself onto your feet, steadying yourself for a moment before walking past him with a small nod.

“I told them fifteen minutes.”

You nodded silently and kept walking. _Fuck. Now I have to go._ With every step, you were sure you were going to either vomit or cry, or worse, both. When you walked into Med Bay, the nurse at the front desk smiled.

“You must be Lieutenant (Y/N) (Y/L/N)?” she asked.

“Yes,” you choked out.

“Just this way. I’m Nurse O’Malley.” She gestured for you to follow her to one of the curtained off biobeds. “Now, let’s see what we’re dealing with.” She reached toward the poorly wrapped bandage and you recoiled instantly.

“Don’t–don’t touch me,” you sputtered.

“I can’t look at the injury if you don’t let me touch you,” she answered gently, reaching toward you again.

“Please.”

“(Y/N), I’ll touch you as little as possible, but I need to at least remove the bandage.”

“I’m fine.”

“You were sent here by Lieutenant Commander Scott, and according to your records, you haven’t showed up for your intake exam that was supposed to happen three months ago. I am quite sure you are not fine.”

“I’ll remove the bandage. But please–please don’t touch me.”

O’Malley sighed and nodded, “Very well.”

Much like they had when you were wrapping and taping down the bandage, your hands shook as you unwrapped it from your calve. She took one look at the cut and turned to the supplies cart getting more sterile gauze.

“Hold pressure on it. I am going to go get Dr. McCoy,” she said handing you the gauze and making sure you were applying enough pressure before walking away.

“There’s a comm button right on the wall so that you can call me without leaving a patient unattended. And bleeding, for god’s sake,” Leonard said to O’Malley as he pulled back the curtain.

You made eye contact with him for a second and immediately looked away.

“I didn’t see much point in just standing by her bedside,” she answered.

“You should be holding pressure to the wound,” he said pulling on a pair of gloves before turning back to you. “Alright, let’s see what we’ve got here.” He reached toward you and you pulled back.

“She won’t let you touch her,” O’Malley said plainly.

Leonard furrowed his eyebrows. “And why’s that?” he asked gently.

“I have haphephobia. I don’t like people touching me,” you said softly.

“Is there a middle ground? Because I do need to treat this.”

You looked down at the cut and shrugged.

“Do you think you can help with the cleaning of the cut and bandage it yourself if I give you everything you need to do that?”

“Yeah,” you nodded.

“O’Malley?” He turned and looked over at her.

She turned to the nearby cart and got the supplies, setting them on the bed.

“Put this under your leg.” He handed you something that resembled a pee pad for a puppy. As you got it situated, he asked, “Can I look at the cut?”

“Promise you won’t touch?” you asked softly.

“I promise.”

You hesitated then lifted the gauze, noticing the way his hands twitched as he kept himself from reaching over.

“How long has it been bleeding?” he asked

“Uh, a little over ten minutes. Maybe fifteen.”

“How did you cut yourself?”

“I was working in one of the Jeffries tubes and one of the panels opened and I scraped my leg against one of the corners.”

“I’m going to clean out the cut. It’s probably going to sting a little. The cut’s pretty deep,” he said gently as he picked up one of the plastic syringes filled with saline solution.

You just nodded, biting your lip as he flushed the wound with the solution a few times.

“Doin’ alright?” He handed you more gauze, gesturing for you to press it to the cut.

“It definitely stung.”

He went to pat your leg gently but quickly stopped himself. “O’Malley, can you grab me the dermal regen?”

She nodded and walked off.

“How long have you had haphephobia?” he asked.

“Since I was a kid,” you shrugged.

“And when you’ve had to receive medical treatment?”

“I can usually take something beforehand for it. Though, the doctor always hates it because it screws up my vitals.”

“You know we have a counselor on board.”

“No,” you answered a little too forcefully.

“Ok, it was just a suggestion.”

“I don’t like therapists.”

“Ok.”

You were immensely grateful that he didn’t inquire any further, especially when Nurse O’Malley returned. No one said much beyond him instructing you how to more effectively wrap up your cut since the dermal regenerator could only do so much at the time.

“Come back tomorrow. I want to check up on it and make sure it’s healing properly. And no Jefferies tubes for a while. Take it easy,” he said as you got up.

“Yes, sir,” you nodded.

“I would also like to do your physical soon.”

You froze.

“I’ll schedule you for as much time as you need.”

“I’m perfectly fine. Besides the cut of course.”

“I need to be the judge of that.”

You swallowed the lump in your throat.

“We can do it now if you want to just get it over with.”

“I have to get back to work.”

“And I think I can get you excused for a little while longer.”

“Ok,” you mumbled after a minute.

He smiled at you and gestured for you to follow him to an exam room. “I am going to have to touch. But I’ll get all the vitals done and then I can give you a sedative if it’ll help.”

“Ok,” you choked out as you sat down on the bio bed.

He may have been talking to you as he did the non-tactile part of the exam, but all you could think of was the fact he was going to have to touch you.

“Hey,” he said gently putting one hand next to you and shaking the bed lightly to get your attention.

“Huh?” You blinked a few times looking back at him, a little startled.

“Do you want the sedative?”

You nodded, almost too enthusiastically. He turned prepared a hypospray before turning back to you and pressing it to your neck, administering the drug. Within seconds, you felt more relaxed, though the anxiety hadn’t gone away completely.

“Say stop and I’ll stop, alright?”

You nodded.

“Yes or no.”

“Yes.”

He slowly reached over and pressed his finger tips to your neck, feeling your lymph nodes. You gripped the edge of the mattress trying to keep your breathing steady. He stepped back, dropping his hands to his sides.

“Are you doing alright?”

“Yes.”

“Lay back for me then.”

You moved slowly to lay back on the bed. As he continued his exam, you watched him closely.

“Done,” he gave you an encouraging smile five minutes later.

“Done?” you repeated.

“Yes, and besides that cut, you’re in great health.”

“That was really all?” You sat up slowly as he typed a few things into his PADD.

“That was all. You did great.”

“Am I–Am I free to go?” you asked after a minute.

“Yeah.” He looked up from his PADD and over at you.

You gave him a small smile and nodded. “Thank you, by the way.”

“It was no problem,” he smiled.

“Still thank you.” With that you waved before walking out the door and back to work.

 


End file.
